Wildfires close 2 highways in north-central Washington

A large cloud rises over wildfires in Central Washington as seen from Seattle's University District at sunset on Wednesday, July 16, 2014. Worsening wildfire activity has prompted the governor's offices in both Washington and Oregon to declare a state of emergency, a move that enables state officials to call up the National Guard. In Washington, that declaration covers 30 eastern Washington counties. (Joshua Bessex/seattlepi.com/Associated Press)

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A large, wind-whipped wildfire in rural north-central Washington destroyed an estimated 100 homes, forced the evacuation of a small town and cut power to most of the scenic Methow Valley.

A spokesman for the Carlton Complex Fire, Jacob McCann, said Friday that the fire "ran quite a bit" on Thursday and officials were also able to get a better handle on its size. It blackened 1,190 square kilometres by Friday morning, up dramatically from the last estimate of 72 square kilometres.

Authorities say the wildfire has already burned about 100 homes and prompted the evacuation of the small town of Pateros, home to about 650 people in Okanogan County. A hospital in nearby Brewster was also evacuated as a precaution.

"There's nobody in Pateros" except a few "stragglers" who stayed, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said, adding the fire was burning in the town, although the small business district was believed intact.

Rogers said Friday morning that his team counted 30 homes and trailers destroyed in Pateros, another 40 in a community just outside the town at Alta Lake and about 25 homes destroyed elsewhere in the county of about 40,000 people.